Artists have their muses—spouses, lovers, bathing beauties, sprightly dancers. For New York City-based painter Elizabeth Downer Riker, her inspiration comes from the land, or to be more precise, the people who work it. Riker has spent her career chronicling farming communities, first in Oaxaca, Mexico, then, for the better part of the last decade, in New York City. Farmers in New York City, you...
Biophilia: if you’re unfamiliar with the term, it might sound like a cross between a new-age fad and an obscure fetish—but if you’ve ever bought a sheepskin rug at IKEA, birch print wallpaper, or a hanging plant for your window, chances are it’s already a part of your life. A scientific study of the ways that connecting to nature can help humans thrive, the...
There’s nothing I love more than looking at the natural world through the eyes of my two children, Jon Thomas (9) and Brooks (3).
My sons and I read to each other more than ever—at bedtime, naptime, playtime—and they often choose books about nature. I think it's because such works speak to the desire for healing, freedom, and exploration in us all, whether or not...
You’ve seen them on Facebook or YouTube or, possibly, in your neighborhood. Houses, manors, even strip malls that have been abandoned and reclaimed by nature—trees growing through the roof, vines covering the walls, flowers pushing out of drains and soil spreading over walkways and parking lots. The sight is oddly gripping, and that’s because the overgrown home is a sneak preview of what will...
When we first came across the videos of Kyle Finn Dempsey their moody earnestness and striking images drew us in. Like Aerate, he was focused on living outside, even if his work concentrated a more adventurous brand of enjoying Mother Nature. As we watched though, something deeper clicked. Maybe it was the way his worldview came across or the subtle philosophy that slipped into...
